$735.00
Update: If your preferred class is sold out, you can request to be placed on our waiting list by emailing assistantebanista@gmail.com. Beginnings I cancellations do occur occasionally.
Summer 2025:
Spring 2025:
Winter 2025:
Skill level: Best place to begin. All levels
Instructor: Ebanista Staff
Tools required: Ear phones (not plugs), eye protection, 10′ or 12′ tape measure,
6″ metal rule. optional: apron, tool tote
Also recommended: Sharpening Workshop, Material Layout & Preparation
Beginnings I is a 4 week class with over 24 hours of instruction designed to crack open the door to the amazing world of woodworking. We will help you become skilled, and SAFE, and confident with two of the major tool groups. Machines, including the all-important table saw, and the joiner, drill press, planer, band saw, and disc sander. And hand power tools such as the drill, router, sander, plate joiner, and amazing new Domino. We will also go through an introduction to the most satisfying and versatile group of woodworking tools: hand tools.
Each student will build a handsome serving tray. See photo. A set of good quality chisels will be required by the 3rd class. Ebanista has some very nice German chisels for sale or can advise students who wish to purchase on their own.
*Please visit the Details tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
$1,205.00
Prerequisite: Beginnings I and Material Layout and Prep. Workshop or permission from the director
UPDATE: If your preferred section is not available, you can request to be placed on our waiting list by emailing assistantebanista@gmail.com.
Skill level: All Levels (students must have completed Beginnings I and Material Layout and Prep. or been given permission from the director)
Instructor: Ebanista Staff
Project: handmade jewelry/valuables box
Tools required for class: ear and eye protection, tape measure, set (6) of good chisels. Low angle block plane (Most of the following tools are available at Ebanista). 6” adj square, layout tools, low-angle block plane, Japanese saw. plus many others. Call w questions.
Also recommended: Design Studio, Sharpening Workshop, Veneering Workshop
In this 6 week class, we will go more into depth on hand tools, including proper care and techniques and strategies for their use. You will learn why a planed finish is superior to one that is sanded. Why a marking knife is superior to a pencil for laying out joinery. Why accurate use of layout tools such as a combination square and a marking knife are so critical to fine woodworking. Why we believe that an intimate understanding of your chisels will start to reveal what you are capable of doing with wood. We will also start learning some of the joints that are the foundation of building furniture and cabinetry. In Beginnings II we will focus on the splined miter joint and frame-and-panel construction and include them in the class project: a handmade jewelry/valuables box.
There will also be consistent short practice sessions with our new hand planes and sharpening with Japanese water stones. Sharpening is perhaps the most important skill in all of woodworking and one you will continue to improve on and come to love throughout the years you work in wood. Even many people who have worked wood a very long time skip past learning this essential skill and are forever limited in what they are capable of. You should finish this class with a thorough exposure to hand tools and a very solid foundation to begin mastering them and incorporating them into your work. They will be emphasized and practiced in every subsequent class at Ebanista.
Please note: the Material Layout and Preparation workshop is a prerequisite for the Beginnings II class. If you have questions about this requirement, please email assistantebanista@gmail.com
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
$1,828.00
Summer 2025:
Spring 2025:
Winter 2025:
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Beginnings II level class at Ebanista, the Sharpening Workshops, and the Material Layout and Prep. Workshop or permission of instructor
In this 10 week course, students will benefit from each other’s experience and the breadth of topics being taught while focusing on their own level-appropriate project. Each level builds on the skills developed in previous levels and projects are designed to provide opportunities for new skill acquisition as well as practice and mastery of the previous.
Either section is open to both IM I, IM 2, and now, IM 3 level students
Projects:
Level 1 – Small Table w/Mortise-and-tenon joinery, spokeshaved/curved legs
Level 2 – Hall/SofaTable of the director’s design employing bent lamination techniques
Level 3- Tool Cabinet w dovetailed drawers, F&P doors. A cabinetmaking tour de force!
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
$1,390.00
Update: Enrollment is now open for Winter 2025 Design Studio. This course has a major advantage over all our other courses in that it is taught remotely.
Winter 2025: Fridays, Jan. 10 – Mar. 14, 4:00pm – 7:30pm
Skill level: All
Instructor: Jonathan Cohen
Introduction to design and design studio experience. Principles of design, sketching/rendering, mockups, and participating in and learning the value of critiques. Design is by far the most common part of woodworking that even longtime woodworkers will tell you they lack and wished they had a chance to learn. It is one of the signature classes here at the Ebanista School of Fine Woodworking, as almost no other schools even offer a design course. Building your own work, work that came from your own ideas, rather than from a magazine or a set of plans, is, in our opinion, one of the best reasons to become a woodworker. It really is exciting to see your own ideas reach fruition.
Both visual design and structural design as it pertains to woodworking are covered. Instructor has a degree in design and over 45 years of design experience. This class is one of the most relaxed and fun here at Ebanista. Also available to non-woodworkers (such as interior designers) – who want a better understanding of furniture design. Class hours were designed to not interfere with workweeks, give a Friday afternoon transition time, and still leave the evening open for family and friends.
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Instructors: Jonathan Cohen
Dates: M-Th, November 18th – December 19th, 4:30pm – 9:30pm (no class on 11/27 & 11/28)
Prerequisite: Intermediate I and permission from director
Having a really nice work bench is one of the greatest pleasures for a woodworker. It is also a very strong incentive for doing your best work each time you are next to it. My bench is, after spending thousands of hours at it for over 40 years, still one of my most satisfying pieces.
In this class we will be building the very beautiful and practical Roubo split top bench, that has become very popular in recent years, despite being first made hundreds of years ago. Each participant will custom fit her/his bench to their own needs for height and length, for their choice of woods and hardware, and a number of other special options. These will literally be one-of-a-kind pieces.
Because of the special nature of this project, class registration will need be made far in advance for several reasons. First, class size will be strictly limited, lumber must be purchased and stored at Ebanista so that it will have extra time to season and stabilize to ensure that these benches will be around for a very long time. Class tuition covers studio time, instruction and basic material costs, such as sandpaper and glue. Lumber costs and hardware costs are the responsibility of each student, as individual choices will likely vary. Besides having a very special piece of your work to take home at the end of this class, you should see a noticeable leap forward in your woodworking skills, as building a workbench requires a broad range of woodworking skills.
This course is by permission of the director. If you are interested, please email assistantebanista@gmail.com
Dates: M/W September 9th – November 13th, 2024, 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Pre-requisites: Intermediate I or permission of the instructor
Also recommended: Design Studio, Material Layout and Preparation Workshop, Sharpening Workshop
Tools required: see Intermediate Classes above + spokeshave, rabbet plane
Handmade chairs are one of the most difficult pieces in woodworking and therefore, one of the most satisfying. The Chair Making class will be an intense, 10 weeks course, exploring design, talking about ergonomics, discussion of special skills specific to chair making in contrast with those required to make most other furniture, and the construction of one dining chair. Each student will be working on a chair design provided by Ebanista as well as a bit of chair designing for their own future projects.
$310.00
Summer 2025: Sunday, June 1st, 29th, & July 27th
Spring 2025: Sunday, March 23rd, 30th, & April 13th
Time: Spring: 11:00am – 4:30pm, Summer: 10:30am – 4:30pm
Instructor: Ross Day
All students taking Beginnings II or higher are required to take the Material Layout & Prep. workshop or be cleared by the instructor
Date: TBD
Time: 11:00am – 4:30pm
Instructor: Ross Day
Prerequisite: Design Studio or permission from school director
Date: TBD
Cost: $93/session
Independent shop time is intended to give Ebanista students a chance to have further access to the shop, with the instructor on site and available for advice and short demonstrations. There will not be class wide teaching, our regular classes are the place for that. This is an opportunity for students to work, as the name suggests, independently. Sessions will be limited to 7 students. If there are not a minimum of 5 students signed up for each session, Ebanista reserves the right to postpone that session and allow the student to sign up for any future time. At this time we are accepting only current or past students of the Ebanista School of Fine Woodworking, including those already signed up for the first time. Please contact assistantebanista@gmail.com with questions or to be placed on the waiting list. Students are expected to provide their own hand tools and materials, with many of these available for purchase through the school.
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
Date: TBD
Update: if you are interested in taking this workshop and the current offering does not work into your schedule, please email assistantebanista@gmail.com to be placed on the waitlist for future offerings.
Note: this workshop is taught virtually over Zoom and is NOT just for woodworkers thinking of going into business for themselves. If you are thinking of opening a small shop just for your own work, you will learn a specifics designed to get your shop up and manageable.
Skill Level: Open to all
Instructor: Jonathan Cohen
At first glance, this workshop might seem to be an oxymoron. If you wanted to be good at business, why would you become a woodworker? This class is NOT designed to be a crackerjack Economics course, but to teach the very important fundamental aspects of keeping your love for woodworking a viable one. Not taking care of the planning and money will stop you from making a life, or a hobby, as an Ebanista, (or any other craft if you’d like to invite a friend), far quicker than just about any other problem you will face.
We will discuss setting up a shop, machinery and tool purchase, whether to hire any employees if things start taking off, taxes, how to deal with clients, how to calculate costs and give estimates that pay you enough, the very important attention that should be paid to photographing your work and some tricks for keeping those costs under control, and strategies for dealing with galleries if you choose to give your work a wider audience.
I do not think there is anyone who has less interest in being described as a businessperson than I. But if you don’t at least become comfortable with the information in this workshop, you know what they say….ignore it at your own peril. As with most of what is taught at Ebanista, we do not claim to be teaching anything you could not learn on your own, eventually. The question is whether you want to avoid years of pitfalls and obstacles to get to your objectives.
The instructor, Jonathan, has over 47 years of running a professional furniture studio (business) and showing in galleries across the U.S.
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
Date: TBD
Skill level: Open to all
Instructor: Peter Peterson
(Please note: this workshop is not held at the Ebanista School shop , but rather at a professional saw yard in South Seattle, 1/2mile from the school. Wear clothing that can get dirty, bring earphones, safety glasses, gloves, and boots. Workshop is subject to quick schedule change due to weather.)
Professional full time sawyer Peter Peterson is welcoming us to give an amazing introduction to sawing your own lumber. Much of this will be hands-on. You will watch as he revs up the huge industrial saw that he and Urban Hardwoods use every day to produce their amazing slabs, move down to a much smaller portable horizontal bandsaw mill, and then we will finish with a hand held chainsaw mill. It is mesmerizing to pull off fresh colorful beautiful slabs of wood. join us just for the experience or to give yourself a huge head start in making your own lumber. You will gain an in depth understanding to where ( and why) your lumber comes from.
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
Note: this is a two-day workshop. The first session is to glue up plane bodies, the second to shape and tune them.
Skill level: Open to all levels
Date: TBD
Instructor: Stephen Barney & Jonathan Cohen
Making your own planes is an amazing way to gain a deeper understanding of planecraft and to customize your stable of these iconic hand tools to your own needs. In this class we will de-mystify the process and under the tutelage of extraordinary craftsman Stephen Barney, who has made many of his own planes (in use for decades now), tune them and hone them to become some of your favorite hand tools. Tuition costs include material and $90 handmade extremely high quality plane irons we will be using. After all, what is the point in hand making a plane and using a cheap, factory iron? Students will find it very satisfying at the end of the workshop to carry their own new planes back to their work benches.
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
$284.00
Summer 2025: Sunday, June 22 & Sunday, July 20
Spring 2025: Sunday, April 6 & Sunday, May 4
Winter 2025: Sunday, January 26 & Sunday, February 23
Time: 11:00 am – 4:30 pm
Skill Level: All skill levels
Instructor: Stephen Barney or Ross Day
Sharpening your woodworking tools is the most essential skill of all, vital to achieving the skills to become a fine woodworker. Every person attending these workshops so far has commented on how much this workshop has boosted their woodworking skills. Bring your own tools if you like, or Ebanista will have some planes and chisel sets for sale. There will also be some discussion of Japanese tools. This is a fine opportunity to learn from one of the most experienced woodworkers on the West coast. These classes are always very popular, so we recommend you sign up early.
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
$284.00
Spring 2025: Sunday, May 18th
Time: 11:00am – 4:30pm
Skill Level: All skill levels
Instructor: Jonathan Cohen
Update: if you are interested in taking this workshop and the current offering does not work into your schedule, please email assistantebanista@gmail.com to be placed on the waitlist for future offerings.
Class Description: Veneering can be a way to open MANY doors to more kinds of fine furniture. It has been around for thousands of years, and when done well can add great beauty to a fine piece of furniture- especially as much of the most beautiful wood in the world is reserved for veneers. Also, knowing how to use, and make your own veneers can open up endless possibilities in your furniture and cabinet design. In this workshop we will learn how to cut, match and press veneers, as well as how to design with them and how to use them to their maximum advantage. We will work with a cold press and also have a demonstration with an easy to build, inexpensive vacuum press. You might be amazed at how a vacuum press can change your workshop completely, greatly expanding your possibilities.
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
$284.00
Date: Sunday, July 13, 2025
Time: 11:00am – 4:30pm
Skill Level: All
Instructor: Ross Day
In this class we will remove the mystery from traditional finishing techniques. We will discuss the components and theory of each finish type as well as their pros and cons viz ease of application, wood protection, and refinishing/repair. We will then move into the most important (and neglected) part of finishing: surface preparation. With our sample boards completed we will prepare some finishes and proceed to experiment with them on our boards. You will see, first hand, how different finishes penetrate the wood and bring out its character. Rounding out the finishing session, we will consider adding color to finishes.
*Please visit the ‘Details’ tab to review our refund/cancellation policy.
$1,525.00
Fall: December 26th – 31st 2024 (no class on 12/29), 10:00am – 6:00pm
Cost Includes: $1350 + $175 for materials
Skill level: All Levels
Prerequisite: Material Layout and Prep. Workshop
Instructor: Jonathan Cohen
Introducing 5 day intense building classes. 5 consecutive days, 7+ hours/day. Instructor has designed a cherry writing desk to be built in its’ entirety, which each student will take with them at the end of the course. Early registration is encouraged as the materials will be purchased in advance to start the seasoning process and prepping before class starts. This class represents a bit of a departure from the structure of our 10 week classes. In those, the heavy emphasis is on teaching new skills and information, and the class projects are seen as a hands on manner of practicing those skills. In the 5 day classes the emphasis is on taking a project from start to completion, with a great deal of learning occurring during the process. Ideal also for those outside the Seattle area, or those who cannot fit a 10 week course in to their schedules.
Date: June 10th-14th, 9:00am – 5:00pm
Skill Level: all levels
Instructor: Jonathan Cohen
In studio furniture making, two classic joints stand out as testaments to the evaluation of a finely crafted piece of furniture, as well as the skill level of the maker. Those are the mortise & tenon joint, and the hand cut dovetail joint. In this 5 day intensive, we will examine and learn how to consider and execute both of these critical and beautiful forms of joinery!
You will learn how to layout, and accurately and efficiently hand-cut, both through and half blind dovetails. Commonly used in case joinery, or for drawers, it is the signature joint of fine craftsmanship. A mystery dovetail, seemingly impossible, will also be presented for fun. We will also look at three different forms of mortise & tenon: loose aka floating tenons (hidden), slip tenons (exposed), and the thru wedged tenon (exposed). Layout and technique, as well as when and where to choose one or the other, will be presented.
And finally, the often overlooked subject of Graphics; the aesthetic interplay of spacing, angles, etc. will be added to make your joinery go beyond being merely structural, to make your piece come alive!
Date: June 3rd-7th, 9:00am – 5:00pm
Skill Level: all levels
Instructor: Ross Day